Mayor Frank Offutt, in an interview with The Landmark, stated that a timeline to fill the board of aldermen's vacancy has been established. He added that the search process of filling the vacancy in ward one has already begun.

Five candidates have notified Mayor Frank Offutt either in a letter, phone call, or in person of their interest in becoming a Platte City alderman. The mayor stated that he is enthusiastic about the pool of interested candidates.

According to the mayor's timeline, the potential candidates could be presented to the board and interviewed on Oct. 11. The selected candidate then could be sworn in as early as Oct. 25, during the scheduled board meeting.

As first reported by The Landmark that day, he announced his resignation in a one-sentence letter to Offutt on Sept. 15.

Cook, 59, had pled guilty to sexual misconduct last month and is on six months probation. A 37-year-old woman claimed Cook exposed himself to her while giving her a ride home from work in August of 2010.

The person selected to fill the vacancy will serve until Cook's term would have expired, which is April of 2012.

During the general discussion period at Tuesday night’s meeting,, Alderman Porter recited an e-mail which he received from a Platte City citizen, who raised her concern regarding the speed limit on Fourth Street.
Offutt acknowledged that there had been previous discussions regarding the speed limit being reduced to 25 miles an hour on Fourth Street. The Public Safety Subcommittee requested to have this issue included on the October docket.

Additionally, Porter presented to the board the citizen's second question of whether the police are ticketing the speeders in this area to deter them from racing through Fourth Street at speeds exceeding 50 miles an hour.

Offutt asked if Porter would raise this question at the Public Safety Subcommittee in October. Alderman Porter acknowledged that he serves on the Public Safety Subcommittee and agreed to raise this question.

In other business, the board of aldermen unanimously approved to apply for the application of the Mid-American Regional Council District Grant. This grant would aid in the funding of a standalone cardboard baler, as well as a new body for the 2002 Volvo recycling truck, therefore, adding both paperboard and cardboard to the city's curbside recycling and drop off program.